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US Devises 'Influence Games' For Working with Syria, Levant

The US Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group wants a better grasp of  its vulnerabilities, those of its adversaries and the consequences of US actions. Barbara Slavin reports on the body''s "competitive influence" game that will focus on the crisis in Syria. “You can tie every threat group around the world to the Levant,” said one participant.
People gather at a mass burial for the victims purportedly killed during an artillery barrage from Syrian forces in Houla in this handout image dated May 26, 2012. U.N. observers in Syria have confirmed that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential area of Houla, Syria, where at least 108 people, including many children, were killed, the U.N. chief said on Sunday in a letter to the Security Council.   REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. N

When is a war game not a war game? When it is a “competitive influence” game.

For three days earlier this month (May 15-17), more than 100 people met in Annapolis, Md. to brainstorm about devising such an exercise. The actual game is to be played this summer at an air base in Florida.

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